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It was also empty.
“Alphabet, we’re going to need an extraction route. Any surprises?” He pulled a thumb drive out of one of his many pockets and pointed to the computer before he headed for the file cabinets.
The thumb drive sparked a memory, but I shoved it away for now. I had another one but it was in my stuff back at the house. I pushed the drive into one of the USB slots, then hit the spacebar.
“Motion sensors just tripped near the east stairwell,” Alphabet warned. “You have about a minute. Package up what you need and get out.”
The drive did its job, the screen’s password lock cleared, then a couple of other windows opened and code flowed as the hard drive began to hum.
Bones pulled out burner phones, passports, and what looked like small books from one drawer. He stuffed them into his backpack. I opened the desk drawer and searched it. It seemed pretty normal.
Bottom drawer was locked. Bones moved to me and wedged his knife in and then popped the drawer open.
“That’s a lot of cash,” I murmured. Stacks of bills in different denominations.
“Take it.” Bones began loading his bag as I did mine.
“Eureka,” Lunchbox said, satisfaction filling his voice. “Files transferred. We’ve got the blackmail, auction records, buyer IDs. Numbered accounts. Pretty sure we have their bankers too.”
I zipped up the bag with the cash in it and slid it back on. The machine was almost done, the windows flickering until the last one closed.
A sharp crackle over comms made me flinch. I jerked the thumb drive out.
“Bravo, company coming your way. Not guards.Tactical.” The urgency underlying Alphabet’s message didn’t make him louder. If anything, he was softer and he sounded even more dangerous.
Bones grabbed my hand. “Move.”
We left the office the way we came in, stepping over the bodies on the floor before racing back toward the gallery.
“Halt!” A shout echoed toward us and a bullet pinged off the stone wall. We didn’t slow down, if anything, Bones went faster. He pulled me around the corner, then another, then he pushed open a door I hadn’t even seen and into a narrow stairwell.
He retreated into an alcove almost tucked behind the door, arm around my middle. His breathing was a bit ragged, fast, and real. The door moved and he raised his gun, it was pointed at the door itself even as the door pushed back toward us.
I held my breath.
“Clear,” a man grunted, then withdrew and the door closed again, before a bolt slid home. They’d locked it. “Spread out. Find them.Now.”
We didn’t move, and I only took in a little breath, sure that even a single gasp would give us away. The thud of footsteps beyond the door moved away.
Bones pressed his lips to my ear. “Right behind me.”
“Yes, sir,” I answered, and he paused to shoot me a what might have been a smirk. Maybe.
What? He wanted obedience, he was getting obedience, even my heart had started to gallop again. I stuffed the thumb drive into a pocket under my vest, just in case.
“Bravo team heading to ground floor,” Bones said quietly. “Give me eyes and ears.”
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
GRACE
“Bravo, east exit compromised. You’re rerouted. Kitchen access stairwell leads to the wine cellar.” Alphabet’s voice was low, intense and deadly serious. “Cuts under the south wall.”
We were out of the stairwell and into another back hall. We were down an extra floor from where we’d come in. Boots hammered against the marble floors. A sound on the steps behind us warned that pursuit was closing in.
“Coordinates,” Bones snapped.